11 Favorite iPad Apps from 2 Friendly Geeks

Two of my online buddies have an iPad. I asked both of them to recommend a few iPad apps so that I could share them with you. If you have an iPad, you might want to take a few seconds to check these out.

â€¢ The first list comes from my friend Zia, who authors the blog CyberNirvana. Here’s what he told me about the apps he uses:

I have over 50 apps on the device which I use to a varying degree. The 5 apps below are almost used daily. I consider them as a must have and treat them as the essence of using an iPad over the use of laptop/netbook, that is: convenience, speed and usefulness.

1. Air Video – An amazing program which allows you to access and view all your videos (all major formats supported including DivX) stored on your PC (even USB hard drives) from the iPad. The streaming quality is excellent depending on the Wi-fi access. I decided to purchase the full version (a few bucks) As soon as I realised I was able to watch The Dark Knight in HD in the living room on the iPad.

2. CineXplayer – An app which is only 2 weeks old and which has shocked a lot of people. How did Apple allow an app to bypass its own self-imposed restriction of video formats playable on the device? This app allows you to load all DivX and Mpg movies (via iTunes) into the iPad for offline viewing. The quality is unaffected and conversion is seamless.

3. Instapaper – The ability to read text in the right format on the iPad is literaly a pleasure. This app allows me to read all the articles captured from the net in a neat and easily readable format.

4. Flipboard – This app is the talk of the net right now. People are surprised at how good it is and wonder how long it will last as a free product. This one pulls news and content (not RSS feeds) from the web, including Twitter and Facebook, in a beautiful and slick format.

5. Early Edition – A simple RSS aggregator which displays all my feeds in a newspaper-like format with the option to send stories to my Instapaper account.

â€¢ The next list comes from my friend and fellow author, Rajesh. Here’s what he told me:

These are the apps I use on a day-to-day basis on my iPad, and I enjoy using them.

1. Evernote – Evernote turns the iPhone, iPod Touch and iPad into an extension of your brain, helping you remember anything and everything that happens in your life. From notes to ideas to snapshots to recordings, put it all into Evernote and watch as it instantly synchronizes from your iPhone to your Mac or Windows desktop. (quote from the website)

2. Dropbox – Dropbox is the easiest way to sync and share your files online and across computers. (quote from the website)

4. Pulse – Catch up on all your news in this highly acclaimed reader – so good it was featured by Steve Jobs himself in the WWDC keynote! (quote from the website)

5. OsfooraHD – Osfoora for Twitter is a fast and clean twitter client that gives you easy access to all of twitter’s functionalities. Osfoora features an elegant and clean Home screen that lets you access most functionalities in a single touch. (quote from the website)